


Oh my love!

by Ephemeral_Joy



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Backwarder, Canon Compliant, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Humor, Love, Love Confessions, Mutual Pining, POV Adrien Agreste, filling in the blanks, my screeching ass couldn't take the conclusion so i had to do something
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-14
Updated: 2019-02-14
Packaged: 2019-10-27 19:21:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17772743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ephemeral_Joy/pseuds/Ephemeral_Joy
Summary: In which Adrien scavenges London for his Just A Friend since she needs laxatives.But don’t worry, he doesn’t have feelings for her or anything.(or: filling in the gaps for 304 "Backwarder")





	Oh my love!

**Author's Note:**

> What an iconic episode. It deserves to have his own dedicated fic. If only the animation was as good as its plot.
> 
> Not edited|not beta'd

Inconspicuous, Adrien silently slid back into the train, closing the bathroom stall behind him and dropping his transformation. Chat Noir unravelled around him, shutting itself back into the ring and Plagg appeared. 

‘Well, that was interesting,’ Plagg noted, grinning. ‘I wonder what Kagami will think of you now that you’ve taken a thirty minute shit.’

Adrien frowned, ‘I didn’t-’, his face flushed with realisation, ‘Oh.’ 

‘Yeah… good that you just like Ladybug then!’

The boy rolled his eyes at the statement, ignoring the teasing tone. Over the past months, Adrien has learned to cancel out all the unimportant details Plagg wished to shout at him. He was pretty sure it saved his mental health. 

Adrien dumped Plagg back into his jacket and left the stall, taking his seat next to Kagami. Her back was at him, her eyes closed as she listened to music. He never thought she’d be into that, music. Kagami just seemed so… cold, towards anything that wasn’t fencing. Adrien was still a little embarrassed he went through a phase of “liking” Kagami, but she seemed to be mature enough to let it go, so he did as well. He did think the experience made him smarter and understand what he wanted. 

Kagami was pretty, smart and has similar interests, but she never smiled or got excited about anything. She wasn’t playful or energetic or spontaneous. That was what he liked in a girl. 

 

(Ergo, Ladybug.)  

 

As he searched his bag for his headphones, his eyes caught the sliver of paper.

Marinette.

He still couldn’t believe she had asked him for laxatives! Him! He had previously thought she was too starstruck around him due to his famous father, but it seemed like she trusted him enough for her to ask him for medicine. It did seem like she insinuated something else when she had stopped him before he had boarded the train…

Adrien tried not to dwell on it.

There was no way Marinette could have a crush on him. Ha!

But laxatives. He didn’t know if he’d have time to get those when in London. The ceremony would take an entire day, which only left Friday afternoon and Sunday morning, as they’d leave again at 12. But wouldn’t Marinette have gotten them herself by then? Or was it very specific medication only to be found in the UK? Or maybe she was too embarrassed? Even to Alya? Adrien was confused, but Marinette did say it was the only thing she had ever wanted, so how could he refuse? Maybe she’d been dealing with this for years!? 

Adrien decided: whenever he had time, he’d search for the right medication. Maybe he’d even buy a “Get Well Soon!”-card, or was that insensitive? 

‘Stop shaking your leg, it’s making me agitated,’ Kagami snapped, ripping one earphone out. He could faintly hear classical music. Haydn. 

‘Sorry,’ Adrien muttered, scratching the back of his head. 

‘What’s that? Is that the note Marinette Dupain-Cheng gave you?’, she asked, nodding at the piece of paper. Her eyes peered at it with scrutiny. 

‘No! I mean, yes,’ Adrien flushed. He didn’t want to lie, and he knew Kagami hated liars, but he couldn't tell her about the note! He didn’t want to embarrass Marinette and taint her trust! Kagami quirked an eyebrow. 

‘It’s a - I mean, don’t tell anyone but - it’s a love note!’

Kagami’s eyes widened, the first time that day she showed an ounce of emotion. 

‘A love note?’, she exclaimed, staring at the paper. 

‘Yes,’ Adrien replied, voice steadier and resolute. Those acting lessons he had to follow when he was eight were going to pay off! Marinette wouldn’t be upset over a white lie, right? They were friends, he was sure she’d be okay pretending to have a crush on him if Kagami asked. ‘But please don’t tell anyone. I don’t want to embarrass her.’

Kagami blinked, seemingly collecting herself. She’d forgotten about Haydn. ‘Of course,’ she said eventually. ‘I’m surprised she finally confessed.’

Adrien frowned, his heart getting yanked to his stomach at her comment. ‘What?’  

Kagami tilted her head, calculated, ‘You mean you didn’t know? She wasn’t trying to hide it.’

‘What?’

‘Adrien, stop saying what, it makes you sound retarded,’ his father reprimanded as he passed them, finally done with the toilet. The train started to move. Kagami mumbled something about being politically correct, but Gabriel Agreste already sat down.

She spoke again after a moment. ‘I thought it wasn’t a surprise. I mean, she’s always red around you, and she made you a scarf.’

Adrien frowned. ‘She didn’t make me a scarf.’

‘The blue one?’

‘That was a gift from my father.’

Kagami smirked, ‘You’re not very observant, are you?’ Adrien made a face. ‘Her initials are on it. Who else did you think MDC was?’

‘Wha-’, he stopped himself, zipping open his messenger bag in one go and snatching the scarf from the bottom. There it was, in yellow thread: _MDC_. ‘Oh… wow.’

Kagami shrugged, a hint of a smile on her face as she plopped her earphone back in. 

‘But, wait.’ Kagami sighed, turning back to the boy ‘Just because she made me a scarf doesn’t mean she likes me.’

Kagami frowned, pointing at the note. ‘But she confessed.’

Those acting classes weren’t paying off. ‘Y-yes. But it doesn’t mean she liked me then. She’s just a great friend in general.’

‘Oh… so you don’t like her?’

‘I mean…’ He did think Marinette was pretty. Like, really pretty, with her wide, blue eyes and soft black hair. She smelled nice too, probably because of the bakery. And she was really kind and helpful and a team player and passionate about everything and she was a great gamer and he was a little impressed when she was able to fence on her first try. And she made him a scarf, that too. ‘she’s an awesome friend. But I don’t like her like that.’

Kagami seemed surprised. ‘Well, I will not tell anyone about it then. I don’t want to humiliate, Marinette.’

Adrien smiled, relieved. ‘Thanks!’

Later that night, when Adrien was staring at the ceiling of his suite and listening to the sounds of London, he wondered. 

Was Kagami right? Of course someone liking him was a possibility, but Marinette? She was way out of his league! Like he had said at the picnic, she was like Ladybug; and just like with Ladybug, he never stood a chance.

She did kiss him, though. Adrien shook his head, turning on his side and stared at a snoring Plagg. 

At the end of the day, Marinette was his friend. A friend slowly becoming a best friend, together with Nino. For once she asked him to do something for her, so he’d do it.

Anything for her. 

*

The royal wedding went by in a blur of celebrations, cake (“Only one slice, Adrien. Nothing more!”) tiers, fancy hats and photographs. He was pretty sure he had gotten temporarily blind in his left eye for a solid hour. Saturday flowed into Sunday, and suddenly Adrien remembered his mission. 

 

Find laxatives.

 

After an awkward breakfast with his father in the restaurant downstairs, he’d rushed out of his hotel room via Chat Noir, scaling down the side and plopping down as pedestrian Adrien. No one had noticed.

Adrien hadn’t thought that much ahead though. Here he was, in the heart of London, with only “Thank you” and “Where is the toilet?” in his vocabulary. English was taught at the lycée next year, and he never gotten a lesson on it during homeschool, as his father had assumed that later in his career all business inquiries would go through an agent. He was helpless. But, he did have the slip of paper, and he did see a pharmacist when they arrived in London on Friday. (The green cross was quite universal.) It mustn’t be that hard, right?              

It was. After wandering for hours around London like a stray cat, he'd finally mustered up the courage to ask a stranger with his best English where a pharmacist was. Luckily for him, the local had a French wife and was able to switch to French without a problem. Three hours after departing his hotel, he entered a pharmacist. 

_The things I do for you, Marinette._

He slid the doctors note over the counter, hoping that the medical language was universal and the graying lady understood. Her wrinkly hands gingerly took the note, eyes squinting. The retro pearls around her neck were a stark difference to the ultra modern interior of the shop. 

‘One moment, please,’ the lady (Theodora, he read on her name tag) said, shuffling to the back. In that moment, Adrien had time to think. What was he doing? Him, a fourteen year old model slash fencer slash superhero named Chat freaking Noir, was buying laxatives for his friend slash classmate slash prettiest girl he'd ever seen, Marinette. Marinette, a girl that supposedly liked him, according to Kagami. 

_Kagami never lied._  

 

‘Here you go, dear.’

 

Merde. Kagami never lied, and she wouldn't start now for no apparent reason. She wouldn't lie about something so sensitive as feelings. Marinette stuttered around him, she turned red, she made him a scarf, she ran to the station to give him the note, she danced with him, she gave him a lucky charm, she kissed him. (He remembered going to sit in the car, face beet red and tingling.) 

The signs were there, it was so obvious! How had he not realised before!? 

 

Marinette had a crush on him. 

 

And for some reason, he didn't mind at all. His heart belonged to his Lady, but he got excited at the thought of Marinette potentially being… his. 

 

‘Lad, your medicine?’

 

‘Oh!’, Adrien perked up, snapping out of his Marinette induced reverie. ‘Excuse-moi! I mean sorry! And thank you!’ He threw twenty euros on the counter and dashed out of the pharmacy, leaving a befuddled Theodora behind. 

Maybe Ladybug was too unattainable, and she had been right all along. Maybe they were better off as partners, not as a couple. Maybe he'd been imagining this perfect relationship because she seemed like the perfect girl, but it wasn't like he actually knew her. Adrien knew Ladybug was smart, cunning, creative and a team leader, but he didn't know her. Her likes and dislikes. Her allergies. Her family. He knew, just like all of Paris, her persona.

But he did know Marinette. Only a small group of people had the delight of knowing her, not all of Paris. 

And he was fourteen, and how much can you even know about love at fourteen, but who was there to judge? 

(His father, actually. But he’d rather not think about that.) 

Adrien found the hotel quickly, recognizing the streets and buildings. He scaled back up as Chat Noir and plopped onto the bed as Adrien. Plagg dashed into a discarded sock. The boy hid the medicine at the bottom of his messenger bag and, to deviate his thoughts, made some homework. 

He couldn't wait to see Marinette tomorrow! 

 

(‘So maybe I do like her.’

‘Did I ask?’

‘No, but-’

‘Word of advice: don't act like a fool.’

‘Thanks Kagami.’

‘You're welcome.’)

*

Marinette was easy to track down that Monday morning. As usual, she was part of the circle containing Alya, Rose, Mylène, Juleka and Alix. An odd collection of girls, but it worked nonetheless. Marinette looked pretty as always, in [light mom jeans, a soft pink sweater and black slip-on’s](https://www.google.com/search?q=pink+sweater+mom+jeans&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwjy3JTd9LngAhVRiLQKHZFBA2UQ2-cCegQIABAC&oq=Pink+sweater+mom+jeand&gs_l=mobile-gws-wiz-img.1.0.33i10.11811.18984..20756...0.0..1.104.1819.23j1......0....1.......0..0i67j0j0i30j0i8i30.e1dbN3FFoj4&ei=wq5kXPLzNdGQ0gWRg42oBg&bih=560&biw=360&client=ms-android-huawei&prmd=isvn#imgrc=x9R1OZ_rQFZsUM). 

 

‘Uh, hey Marinette!’

 

The circle split open, twelve eyes staring back at him in surprise. A pit of nervousness bloomed in his chest, but he quickly ignored it. No need to become self-conscious. 

Alya pushed Marinette towards him, her nearly stumbling into his body. He got a waft if her her smell. Cinnamon. Adrien smiled. 

‘I was very surprised when I read you letter. Since it seemed to be so important, I spent the whole weekend walking around London looking for it,’ he took the pharmacy bag from his backpack, and he heard Rose and Alya gasp behind Marinette. 

Girls were weird. 

‘For you.’

‘Uh… thank you!’, Marinette replied, cheeks tinted pink and highly embarrassed,which made him even more confused. Was the doctor’s note not intended for him? 

‘I'm glad I could help,’ Adrien managed to say, turning around and walking into the lycée. He stopped behind the door, waiting to hear their reaction. It was slightly muffled due to the distance and the other loud students around him, but he was pretty sure he heard the girls tease Marinette. Adrien smiled. He couldn't wait until she discovered the note he left her. 

_Were you supposed to tell me you liked me? That's okay, I think I like you too! Meet me in the park after school?_

_Oh, and get well soon!_

_Adrien <3_

 

*

 

_Okay_

_< 3 Mari_

 

*

 


End file.
